Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Sold by Everence Capital Management Inc.

Everence Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 24,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,170 shares during the quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Sempra were worth $2,162,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hollencrest Capital Management increased its stake in Sempra by 250.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Sempra during the second quarter worth $33,000. LRI Investments LLC boosted its position in Sempra by 180.4% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SouthState Corp grew its holdings in Sempra by 900.0% in the second quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.60.

Sempra Price Performance

SRE stock opened at $87.67 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Sempra has a 52-week low of $66.40 and a 52-week high of $95.77. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.26.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total value of $2,207,443.17. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Sempra

Sempra operates as an energy infrastructure company in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Sempra California, Sempra Texas Utilities, and Sempra Infrastructure. The Sempra California segment provides electric services; and natural gas services to San Diego County.